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About Me

I am a 37 year old nurse who is currently not working due to medical issues. I have chosen to pass my time crafting, but because I am not working, I have little money to spend on supplies. I have a small stash from while I was still working but am now using what I have access to around the house. I also use things I can find cheaply at the dollar store, in the dollar bins, on clearance, or buy with coupons at Michaels and Hobby Lobby. I also like to shop thrift stores and garage sales for things to use in my crafting. You would be surprised with what you can find if you aren't afraid to prowl a little.

The challenge at The Outlawz is "Carousel." I'm not much of a carousel person, but I was able to put something together. When I was growing up, I lived near an amusement park. I spent more than my fair share of time there. They had a huge carousel and I took my inspiration from my memories of that carousel.

I started with the images. They are both the same image, only colored differently. They are freebies from Beccy's Place. I colored them with oil pencils and added some bling to the poles with iridescent glitter glue. All papers used for this project are scrap. What I did was adhere the background paper to a piece of mat board. I then cut rectangles in the center of rectangles longer than the back ground. The inner most being shorter than the outer. The manipulated them to round them like a carousel. I added the scalloped border to the top. I also added a small strip of the same paper to the bottom of the project. The sentiment is computer generated. The silver rhinestones were from the dollar bins at Michaels. After standing back and taking a look at what I thought was the finished project, I realized something was missing. On the carousel at the amusement park, there were pictures along the top of the carousel. So, I decided to add glittered gems to the scallops. To me, it made all the difference in the world. I bought the gems on clearance at Michaels.

This was one of those projects you kind of make up as you go along and I am quite pleased with the way it turned out. I hope you like it too.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

I'm not much for fairies, but when I found this drawing, I had to color it up and use it. This drawing is a one of a kind that was drawn by my nephew. I am so very proud of him. He is an awesome artist and has artwork all over the city of Cincinnati and if you watch MLB baseball, he does all the graphics for the Cleveland Indians. Anyway, enough about that. Here is the card:

The card was inspired by one I saw on Pinterest that you can find here. All papers used were scrap. I have already said the fairy was drawn by my nephew. The pine sprigs were cut from the 50 States Cricut Cartridge. It is a free cut this week in the Craft Room. The butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch. I used a previously inked paper I had left over from a previous project. The pearls on the body were form the dollar aisle at Michael's. The yellow flower is also from the dollar aisle at Michaels. I inked the edges in orange ink from Studio G. The image was colored using a combination of Sharpie Markers and Oil Pencils. I then distressed the paper with Vintage photo. Here are some closer looks at the card.

This week's challenge at the Outlawz is to use something you have had for a long time but never used. As, my stash is not that large, there isn't much I haven't used, but I was able to come up with some paper and some silver butterflies that have been around a while and I haven't used. Here is my project:

I think it turned out absolutely beautiful. The card base is cream cardstock that I distressed with Vintage Photo distress ink. The scallop circle is cut from the Cricut Cartridge, Cricut Essentials. Then using the Ribbons and Rosettes cartridge, I cut out and shaped the rosette from the paper I had found. If I remember correctly, it was a sheet of paper from Michaels that I go on clearance quite some time ago. I wanted to put cheese cloth between the scallop and the rosette but didn't have any. So, I say and thought for a few minute. I was able to come up with something. The fibers between the scallop and the rosette is actually medical gauze that I died with home made blue glimmer mist. I think it turned out fabulously. I glued the gauze down, then the rosette. The next two circles were cut from the Cricut Craft Room Essentials cartridge. I glued them down and then adhered some more of the gauze I had died. Next was a flower made of the same paper as the rosette. It is a 6 petal flower with 2 petal layers. The flower center is a grey snowflake and a blue pearl from my stash. To me it needed something else, so, I added the grey flourishes and the fleur-de-lis. I still thought It needed something, so I added the 2 silver butterflies. The sentiment is computer generated and the sides inked with grey ink from Studio G. (For those of you who don't know, you can get Studio G items from both Wal-Mart and Michaels. They usually cost less than $1.) The sentiment was adhered to a tag cut from the Cricut Essentials cartridge. The tag was then adhered with foam tape.

This was not a card that I could make in a day. It took several. But, I do think it is absolutely gorgeous. I hope you like it too!

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

This card was inspired by a card that I saw on Pinterest. It was done with a silhouette. I do not have a silhouette, I have a Cricut, so I had to do some improvising. Here is what I have come up with:

Are you scared? I would be if this apple ended up in my Halloween goodies, or in my fall basket, or wherever I found it. Here's what I did.

The card base is just plain white card stock with a computer generated sentiment. The font is a free font called dripping marker. I thought it was appropriate as it kind of imitated the dripping poison on the apple. The red black and green papers are scrap. The spider web paper is a free digital paper from Granny Enchanted. I cut the apple out from the Everyday paper dolls Cricut Cartridge. If there is anything similar to the dripping poison skull in the Cricut library, I am unaware of it ans certainly don't have it. The poison skull is drawn and cut out by hand. I traced the apple onto black cardstock, added some eyes, a nose and some drippings. After cutting it out, I adhered it to the apple with foam tape. I also adhered the apple to the card with foam tape. I added glossy accents to the dripping part of the skull to make it look like the dripping part was still wet.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

It seems as though everyone is trying to get into the feel of fall. There are multiple fall/autumn challenges out right now and I have decided to join in the fun with this card creation:

All the papers on this card are scrap. The leaves are silk leaves that came from a fall leaf flower bunch I got at Wal-Mart. It cost less than a dollar and I figured I would find something to do with them eventually. The card base and the dark brown rectangles have been dry embossed with a wood grain EF. You can see one of 3 fibers that are tied between the dark brown rectangles. The fibers are actually burlap fibers that had frayed off a larger piece. The other two fibers are hidden beneath the leaves. The acorn was cut from the Create A Critter 2 Cricut Cartridge. I embossed the cap of the acorn with the Swiss Dots EF. I doodled some highlights on the acorn body and then applied glossy accents to the body. The first layer of the tag I did on the computer and cut out by hand. The inner layer was done with blending summer sun, more mustard, and really rust ink from Stampin' Up. I found a random bar code generator online and made the bar code. I printed it out onto the paper I had inked, cut it out and adhered it with foam tape.

Friday, September 13, 2013

There has been a lot going on in the lives on my creative sisters at the Outlawz. But, to make a long story short, we were asked to make get well cards for one of the girls' sister who is ill. So, I dove right in. This one will take a bit to explain and I will do the best I can. Please feel free to ask questions, leave comments, etc.

Ok, first for the front of the card:

A lot going on here. The card, as is measures 4" x 6". The card base is a piece of 12 x 12 cardstock that I cut into a 6 x 12 piece. I then scored that piece into three 4" x 6" rectangles. The outer rectangles were then scored into two 2" x 6" rectangles. The card was then z folded on each side to make a gate fold. When the card is open, you will see that each fold has a different height.

In the very back of the card, you can see a "clip board." It is made of a piece of thin chipboard that has been inked with Vintage Photo. The Clip part is made of a piece of textured foil paper that has been propped up on an angle. I attached a pop can tab to resemble the circular hole part of the clip. I also adhered a piece of plain white paper to make it look a little more official (I guess).

Working out way down, we see a sick little teddy bear lying in bed with an ice pack in his head. The teddy bear is cut from the Create A Critter 2 Cricut Cartridge. The pillow is cut from the Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge and the ice pack is cut from the Dr. Checkup cartridge. I chose not to cut the teddy's face and use a Peachy Keen Wide Eyed Kids set. Color was added to the face with oil pencil and glaze pen. I lightly inked the edges of the pillow in Ballet Blue ink from Stampin' Up.

Moving down once again, we come to 2 pill bottles. The labels were computer generated, adding a little taste of my humor. The bandage is a real, a generic Band-Aid, but real. I adhered it to cardstock then cut around it. I then just used glue stick to adhere it to the card. The pill bottle lids are 2 rounded off rectangles. The bottles them selves started out as 2 plain white rectangles. I then inked them lightly with vintage photo ink. I then blended with Really Rust ink from Stampin Up until I was satisfied with the results. Because of the gate fold, the card wouldn't stay shut, so I added some bakes twine from my stash.

Moving to the inside:

Here you get a view of the entire card. I have pictures of each panel and will describe each. I think it will be easier that way.

The left, inside panel is matted with scrap paper that I believe is from one of last years Christmas stacks from Recollections. The syringe is cut from the Dr. Checkup Cricut Cartridge. The base cut is from textured silver foil paper. The "medicine" is just a piece of scrap red paper. I adhered it to a piece of clear acetate with glossy accents then adhered the acetate to the syringe base. It makes it look a bit more realistic. You can't really tell in the picture, but it definitely more life like than just using cardstock.

The right side panel is matted with the same paper as the left. The "pills" are simply ovals that I made on my graphics program. I colored them with sharpie markers and glaze pen. I went over the middle band with a glitter pen.

The center panel shows our sick little teddy tucked in bed up to his chin. The polka dot mat acts as his bed spread. The sentiment is computer generated.

Here's a closer look at out sick little bear. He is made of scrap paper. The ice bag is plain white cardstock that I colored with sharpie markers. His eyes are done in a combination of oil pencil and glaze pen. He sure doesn't look like he feels very well.

I sure hope she like blue and brown. I know it is my favorite color combo.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Let me start out by saying, having your gall bladder taken out SUCKS!!! Everyone talked about how easy it was and how they were back to normal in just a few days.....well, not true for me. My abdomen still hurts with I cough, sneeze, breath deep, yawn. I still get nauseated pretty easily, and I am still sleeping way to much. But, I have managed to do some crafting. It helps keep my mind off how badly I feel.

As I am currently into Halloween and fall cards, This is what I came up with:

Ok, here we go:
The card base is just plain black cardstock from recollections. It was actually a piece of scrap. It measures 6" x 6". The purple and green papers are both from the DCWV stack called Silky Smooth. The image is a Bugaboo image called Halloween Skelekinz-topper. I printed it on green and purple striped paper that I created in Office Publisher. It is colored with a combination of sharpie markers and oil pencils. The spider web border was cut from the Ribbons and Rosettes Cricut Cartridge. The sentiment is computer generated. I did it in a free font called A Charming Font. It is supposed to look like the Charmed title for those of you who watched it and know what I'm talking about. I own every season on DVD and have watched it from beginning to end several times. I know, I know. You don't have to say it. The same goes for Buffy and Angel too. I guess I'm just one of those kind of girls.

The card measures 3" x 3". I could not get the card to stay closed on it's own. I assume it is due to a combination of the gate fold and the bakers twine. So, to help keep the card shut, I made a ribbon belly band from some blue circle ribbon from my stash.

This is what you see when you remove the belly band:

The blue cardstock is scrap. The twine is from trendy twine. I love this image, but unfortunately, I don't know where I got it. The initials are KJ. So, if this is your image or you know who's image this is, please let me know so I can give credit where it is due. The image is was colored with water color pencils and oil pencils.

This is what you see when you open the first "gate:"

The sentiment is computer generated and the edges inked with Ballet Blue ink from Stampin' Up. The kitten stickers are from my stash.

This is the inside of the card:

Again, the sentiment is computer generated and then inked in Ballet Blue ink. The Frogs are prism stickers also from my stash.
I hope you like it! Have a great weekend!

This week's Paper A La Mode challenge at the Outlawz is "Back to School." I have created a card that is full of "handmade" elements.

The card base is Kraft paper. The ruler paper layer is digital paper I bought on Etsy. The letter DP is from DCWV Art Type. The recess bingo card was made on my computer using Microsoft Publisher. The Back to School ticket was also made on the computer using Microsoft Publisher and was adhered with staples. I glued a button with twine bow to the "free" space on the bingo card. The "My Summer" essay is also hand made. I took a piece of notebook paper and aged it with homemade tea glimmer mist and random spritzes for Crushed Shells glimmer mist from Tattered Angels. I wrote the essay left handed. I'm telling you, it's harder than I thought it would be, but I think it turned out great. The bow is a paper bow made from scrap paper.

Ok, I don't really ever brag about my creations, but....I am so proud of this one. I'm not really sure why, I just am.

To make the card in and of itself was easy, but time consuming. I had trouble finding just the right papers. I messed up the first one so badly it wasn't even salvageable for something else. But, if I do say, this is one awesome card.

Ok, now for the fun part. I am going to do it in a list fashion as I think it will be easier for this particular card.

3. Rectangles: I took Very Vanilla card stock from Stampin' Up and randomly sponged Summer Sun, More Mustard, Really Rust, Always Artichoke, Elegant Eggplant, and Crumb Cake inks. After I was satisfied with the color arrangement, I lightly blended the piece with Summer Sun. The, I ran the pieces through the embosser with the D'Vine Swirls embossing folder. After that, I wasn't quite satisfied, so I sponged the edges of one rectangle with really rust ink and the other with Elegant Eggplant. I have never tried this technique before, but I find that not only does it make a beautiful background, it is quite fun and sort of therapeutic in a way. Something about jamming a sponge down on a piece of paper I guess.

4. Leaves: stickers from EK success. I got them on clearance at Wal-Mart for less than a dollar. I wasn't going to use them, but I messed up the orange layer when I didn't like the placement of the first rectangle I put down. So, I needed something to cover up the "blemish." I'm glad I added them. I think they add to the whole fall feel.

5. Pumpkin: Cut from the Everyday Paper Dolls Cricut cartridge. I cut it out using the same paper as the large orange circle. I colored the stem with brown sharpie and the vines with olive green sharpie. I doodled in the "stitching" with black sharpie then sponged the edges with Really Rust ink.

5. Oval on Pumpkin: After looking at the pumpkin I felt like the pumpkin needed something, I decided it needed a 3D look. I have seen multiple versions of pumpkins using ovals in Pinterest, so I cut out an oval "stitched" it with black sharpie, sponged the edges with Really Rust ink, and adhered it to the pumpkin with foam tape. Oval cut from Cricut Craft Room Basics.

6. I then adhered the pumpkin onto the card, also with foam tape.

7. Sentiment: The sentiment is computer generated. It too ended up being a happy accident. I printed it out much bigger than I had really wanted it to be. But, when I laid it down where I wanted it, I had "ah ha" moment. I sponged the edges and back of the sentiment, which was printed out on Very Vanilla paper. I then curled up the edges. I then used double sided tape to adhere the sentiment so that it popped off the card.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

This month's freebie at I (Heart) Sketches is absolutely adorable. So, I colored it up and made a cute little card. Let me know what you think.

The base is a digital paper from Far, Far Hill. The red wood layer is also from Far, Far Hill. The apple banner is actually a background that came with my publishing editor. I cut the apple from scrap paper using the Ultimate Creative Series Sampler. The cream lace is a Martha Stewart punch that I mounted over top of some red crinkle ribbon. The image as colored with a combination with of sharpie markers and oil pencils.

I think this is another one that I will use as part of my card organizer box.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

This card is for the Birdie Brown Monthly Freebie contest. I love this image. It was super fun to color. (Also to be entered into the Delightful Challenges: Halloween or something sweet contest)

Card base is yellow orange card stock. The Halloween candy paper is a printable digital paper from Granny Enchanted. The spider on the right side of the page was fussy cut from some Halloween paper from Recollections. The spider web in the upper left hand corner was hand drawn with a glaze pen. The ghost is a comma from the Cricut Essentials cartridge. The black face and outline were doodled by hand. The "B" was polka dotted and colored with sharpies. The next pumpkin is dressed up as a candy corn. The spider web and spider were on the last pumpkin were doodled with a black sharpie and the eyes were done with glaze pen.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Ok, here is another 5x5" block that I will be entering into 2 challenges:
1) Addicted to CAS: Music
2) CAS(E) this Sketch:

Here it is:

All papers are scrap. The image is from Bugaboo. The music is a stamp from Michael's done in red ink. The red musical note is a clip art that I printed off the computer and colored with sharpie markers and topped with glossy accents. The angel/fairy's wings were colored with sharpie marker then with a glitter jelly roll pen.

Not a long post today. I am not feeling well. Hope you all had a great holiday!